Saturday, May 10, 2025

Today's news and jokes

BBC











Last year I was involved in designing a series of crisis scenarios and wanted to include Orbán moving on Transcarpathia. It was left out because it was felt to be going too far to be plausible. Apparently it's not.

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— Ruth Deyermond (@ruthdeyermond.bsky.social) May 9, 2025 at 4:35 AM
("An estimated 80,000 ethnic Hungarians live in Ukraine’s western Zakarpattia region")


An interesting plot twist: the captain of the NewNew Polar Bear ship that damaged the gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia in October 2023 has been arrested in China

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— Minna Ålander 🌻 (@alanderminna.bsky.social) May 9, 2025 at 3:14 AM
A write-up







And why was Baraka there in the first place? Turns out the private prison facility is violating the law, but also unwilling to be served with legal process apple.news/AV9JgWB8fQq6...

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— T. Greg Doucette (@gregdoucette.bsky.social) May 9, 2025 at 6:17 PM
A write-up







@npr.org EXCLUSIVE: The Department of Agriculture is demanding states hand over personal data of food assistance recipients — including Social Security numbers, addresses and, in at least one state, citizenship status, according to emails shared with NPR.

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— stephen fowler (@stphnfwlr.com) May 9, 2025 at 12:57 PM
("a noncitizen parent without legal status may apply for the assistance on behalf of their children who are U.S. citizens")







(not a “particularly close call”)







I’m not sure whether it’s journalistically wrong but boy does it stink to have your crapulous enemies quoted in the dek of your obituary

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— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw.bsky.social) May 9, 2025 at 6:27 AM




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— Orin Kerr (@orinkerr.bsky.social) May 9, 2025 at 9:19 PM








President Trump's media company, which runs Truth Social, told investors today it expects to "incur significant expenses and operating losses for the foreseeable future." It reported sales of $821,000 for the entire quarter, and lost $31.7 million (which is better than last quarter).

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— Brad Heath (@bradheath.bsky.social) May 9, 2025 at 2:29 PM








Seattle, feeling the pinch from lack of Canadian tourism with border crossings down 50%, have started a tourism campaign where local restaurants/hotels take Canadian dollars at par this weekend for the annual Jays-Mariners series

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— ℳatt (@matttomic.bsky.social) May 9, 2025 at 12:24 PM








Holy shit do not let your children drive a damn Cybertruck! Gilbert Arenas's son was trapped in a Cybertruck for 10 to 12 minutes, and was lucky bystanders were able to rescue him. He had to be put into a medical coma due to all the inhalation damage to his lungs. sports.yahoo.com/nba/breaking...

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— e.w. niedermeyer (@niedermeyer.online) May 9, 2025 at 10:45 AM








NEW: With 90% of the population going hungry, Syrians are turning to looting of archaeological sites just to survive. Leon McCarron reports from across Syria to assess the damage, for @newlinesmag.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/reportage/tr...

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— New Lines Magazine (@newlinesmag.bsky.social) May 8, 2025 at 3:38 AM
("At the dawn of the 20th century, Ottoman conscripts began construction of a train line between the cities of Damascus and Medina, located in what are now Syria and Saudi Arabia, respectively. It was called the Hejaz Railway. By 1908, there were 800 miles of narrow-gauge track laid through mountains and desert. Within a decade, however, the Great Arab Revolt destroyed the original ambitions of the project. Its infrastructure, like the empire that commissioned it, began to disintegrate. Ottoman troops retreated. As they did, many buried stashes of gold coins along the train tracks, planning to return to collect them at a less chaotic time. At least, that’s the powerful myth that has endured")











Two big book conventions have gone tits up recently. A Million Lives took money from authors and attendees and provided next to nothing. In one panel people had to sit on the floor. Then Seattle Worldcon was found to have used ChatGPT to vet panelists. The prompt was ‘find scandals’. Oh dear.

— Disco (he/they) | BookSky 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ (@discobooks.bsky.social) May 7, 2025 at 4:06 AM
("First and foremost, as chair of the Seattle Worldcon, I sincerely apologize for the use of ChatGPT in our program vetting process. Additionally, I regret releasing a statement that did not address the concerns of our community. My initial statement on the use of AI tools in program vetting was incomplete, flawed, and missed the most crucial points. I acknowledge my mistake and am truly sorry for the harm it caused.") (They asked ChatGPT "please evaluate each person for scandals")







(Gregg R. hosts my current favorite NFL podcast--this episode this week was particularly fun.)























@fablepines about to watch the whole movie on a screen that’s an inch big. 💀 #CapCut #fyp #thehungergames #sunriseonthereaping #thg #ipodnano ♬ The Hanging Tree - James Newton Howard
Still my favorite apple device







READ. THE. SUBHEAD.

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— Stone Cold Jane Austen (@abbyhiggs.bsky.social) May 9, 2025 at 2:38 PM








@reereehb #fypシ #fyp #foryoupage ♬ original sound - ReereeHB








@kelcienorton She’s howls just like them 😂😂 #xlbully #fyp ♬ original sound - kelcienorton








@finniethecorgi BLUEBERRIES ARE FRIENDS NOT FOOD #corgi #corgipuppy #corgilife #puppylife #corgicommunity #corgination #corgilove ♬ C.B.Rhumba by Sage Guyton and Jeremy Wakefield - SpongeRadio








@hilariousdogs11 Dogs like to play hide and seek.🤣🤣🤣#dog #dogsoftiktok #dogtok #dogs #funnyvideos #funny #dogfunnyvideo #petsoftiktok #foryou #pet #doglife ♬ original sound - hilariousdogs11




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